Color-printing attachment for printing-presses.



No. 885,340. PATENTED APR. 21,1908.

- A. P. HARLAND.

, COLOR PRINTING ATTACHMENT FOR PRINTING PRESSES.

APPLIUATIONTILED SBPT.12,1907.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

nvenlfcr PAT'ENTED APR. 21, 1908.

A. P. I ANLANI). COLOR PRINTING ATTACHMENT FOR PRINTING PRESSES.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 12, 1907.

A 4 SHEBTSSHEET 2.

I v m%imzz /zz IATENTED APR. 21, 1908.

A. P. HARLAND. COLOR PRINTING ATTACHMENT FOR PRINTING PRESSES.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 12,1907.

. 4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

I V /vihmo ow I fitter won a No. 885,340. PATENTED APR. 21, 1908.

- A. P. HARLAND.

COLOR PRINTINGATTACHMBNT FOR PRINTING PRESSESi APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 12,1907.

4 SHEETS-$HBET 4.

' 'Sw mtoz a/ /md flrr n J ALLEN r. IHARLAND, or DYERSBURG, TENNESSEE.

COLOR-PRINTING ATTACHMENT FOR' PRINTING-PRESSES.

Specification of Letters Ifatent.

Patented April 21, 1908.

Application filed September'12, 1907. Serial No. 592,587.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALLEN P. HARLAND, a cltlzen .bf the United States, residi' at Dyersburg, in the county of Dyer and tate of Tennessee, have invented a new and useful Color-Printing Attachment for Printing- Presses, of which the following is a speci cation.

:tion without cha This invention has reference to improvements in color-printing attachments for printing presses, and'is designed to provide a means whereby portions of the printed mattermay be produced in any desired color and in .any desired location simultaneously! the other parts of the with the (printing of work, an :this attachment may be applied to a printing press of any approved construce in said press'and without interfering wit its normal operation.

The present invention provides a means whereby as many different colors may be used as maybe desired, and whereby printby tlie number'of such ing, being done in any color may be changed to any other color by a simple system of substitution of ink reservoirs.

The invention also provides means whereby type forms various colors-maybe brought into perfect register with the spaces left in the main imprint for such colored portions, and this may e done without changingthe position of the type forms withv relation to the parts which. carry them;

The inV6I1t1OI1 llkeWise .cQm rises means whereby any particular type ormusedin any location upon; any one of a'number of form carriers wlllfit any other of the. carriers in the same or another position andwill also fit when the ends are reversed to print right and left.

In accordance with the present invention there are provided a nu ber of units capable of .being les, so that either small or large spaces may e printed in colors at the same time. If the units are used separately then the number of colors is limited only by thenumber of units used. If the units are used in multiples, that is to say, when'gtwo or more units are united to form a composite unit and are used either alone or togpther with other com osite or single units, t en, again, the num er of colors'whichjmay be printed is limited only units employed. V

Furthermcre', the invention contemplates this specification, in which,

usedto produce imprints of Fig. 4 is a horizontal section,

- rintin'g unit made up of orm carriers brought together to constitute 90 used either separately or in multipress- Fast to the frame on each side t erecomposite or single.

" one from the other. Mounted 111 the ournal the use of interchangeable ink reservoirs, so that the color of the imprints may be quickly changed at will without disturbing the type forms or their relation to the surface upon which the imprints are made.

The invention likewise includes means for throwing the members desi nod to produce the colored imprints into an relation with' the surface to be printed, and for regulating the degree of pressure with which the imprinting surface is brought to bear upon the surface to be printed, and also for locking these printing members in the desired position.

The present invention is applicable to various types of printing presses and isnot limited in its application to any particular ty e. p

lhe invention both as to its purposes and its practical embodiment will be best under stood b a consideration of'the-following detailed GSCIlPtIOD, taken in connection with the accompan ing drawings forming part of Figure 1 is a perspective view sh owing the invention applied to a press of the cylinder and reciprocating'bed'type; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of one of the color printing units Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of the same;

: artly-in elevation, showing a number of re ated units and adjacent parts; Fig. 5 is a plan view of a a number oftype orm with". a single a carrier for a single type f inkingimechanism-constructed to include af"; I multip'le type carrier; Fig. G'is of-on'e ef'the'supporting membersfo'r the shaft upon which the: type carriers are mounted;'

of the manner of applying the web press.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a portion of the frame 1 of a printing press em loying a cylinderZ and a reciprocating 3,5all of faniiliar'construction and onlyillustrated in the drawing insufficient detail to indcatea cylinder and reciprocati bed invention to a of is a pedestal 4 terminating at the upper endin a cylindrical bearing or journal box 5 and having a side branch 6 alsoternunating *in a journal box- 7, the journal boxes 5 and 7' being in the same horizontal plane butspaced boxes 7 of the two pedestals 41s a roc -shaftout of operative a detail view and Fig. 7 is-a diagrammatic representation V 8 proje'cting through and beyond one of the journal boxes, say theone shown in the foreground in Fig. 1, and there this shaft has applied to it a manipulating lever QY-terminatmg in a handle 10 adjacent to which'the lever '9 carries a latchlever 11 connected in the usual manner toa dog 12 arranged to engage the teeth of a segmental rack 13 formed on the upper end of the side extension 6 of the pedestal 4; By means of the lever 9 the shaft 8 may berocked on its longitudinal axis and will be held in any adjusted position by the'engagernent of the dog 12'with'theteeth of the rack 13. 7 Adjacent butinte'rior se ment 15 having a hub 16 extending to one si ethereof and journaled in the adjacent journal bearing. or box 5. Each se ment 15 6' with its hub 16 is bored eccentrica y to its axis-Enid there receives the corresponding. end of a shaft- 17 parallel with the shaft 8. When the shaft 8 is rocked upon'its longitu- Idinal? axisthe gearsegments '14 participate in-thi'smovementand nnpart a movement-of thereby cori'espondingly rocked on their axes in'the journal boxes 5. The axis of the shaft '17 being eccentric to the axisof these gments "15 the-said "shaft 1'7 will, when theshaft 8 isl'qckedj'havej a movement to or-from the shaft seeps-aura upon the direction of movem'ent"-of 'saij shaft 8 about its Mi S1 'l IoW.-,'si1'1 ":e the sli'aftS is in fixed relationto thecylinder 2,.when the shaft 8 is rocked pon its longitudinal axis the-shaft 1-7 will approachor recede from the cylinder 2 as the case, ma be. The shaft 17 isfree to turn in its bearings inthe hub'16 but is prevented 4 froinlongi'tudinal' mbvement with'relation to said h by collars"18'fixed upon said shaft and fa uttingsfaid'hubs,'-and since the hubs 16 of'lessdiaineter than the correspond- I ents' 1"5 these so" Inents are held in e ef vln coming romanother sprocket 'ge arj 2 1 mount j ed' upon a haft22 constituting part-of the press,' jo1f the shaft 17 may receive motion in otherwway's as,'f forinstance, by direct gear- .ingfo i; b onnecjtion with other convenient was 91 the Pr i 1 Mounted upon the shaft 17 p 9f cyli'nders.,;23 each supported by spokes 2 4 vexten'ding .fron'i'a "central" hub 2.5 "which 1s I s lit diametricially and provided with cars 26 t rough which bolts f2'7 yi'neztn's of .{iWhlGhthe :hubsjmaybe lamped 1 1 upon 3 the shaftli7. These cylinders ,wlll be of such width as to canyfnting surfacaisa a stereotype plate, whl

will make: an irn '5 gprint adapted to a space upon the surfacetd .toeachjournal 7 the shaft S-has fast thereon agear segment 14 in mesh with another gear rbtati'o'nto the gear segments 15 which-are;

he ournal I oxes 5 by the col t 0 one of thecollars 18 the shaft.

hfesaa'sprcqker e r wheel 19 on through a sprocket chain 20 are a number" be printed in color, and the shaft 17 may carry any number of these cylinders from one up to a number corresponding to the width of the space to be printed in colors. In Fig. 1 there are shown four such cylinders or form carriers 23, but it will be understood that this is only illustrative and a greater or vless number may be employed. Because the hubs of these cylinders are split, they may be sufficientlyloosened with relation to the shaft 17 to permit of being adjusted to any position 'along' said shaft that may be desired, and -may also berotated about the shaft to any desired point to bring type forms fast on the peripheries of the cylinders or drums into perfect register with the spaces left in the main imprints of 'the press for the reception of imprints to be produced by these type forms. The drums or cylinders 23 'are also provided with series of equally spaced perforations 28 which may be suitablytapped for the reception of screws by means of which the stereotype plates are secured to the periphcries. of the cylinders ordrums. By making'these perforations all accurately spaced about the peri heries of the drums, the stereotypeplates, a so provided with perforations accurately spaced, may be usediinterchangeably upon any. of the drums without the necessity of readjusting the parts to bring them. into register, and these plates may be re versed upon the drums to print right and left. Flanking each side ofa drum 23 are side plates 2930 constituting the supports for the nking rollers and ink reservoirs by means of 109 which the im rinting surface upon the respective cylinder or drum 23 is inked. The plates 29 and 30 are each provided with a through perforation for thepassage of the shaft17 and .also with an elongated slot 31, for the passa e of theshaft 8 to allow for the varying (istanees between the shafts 8 and 17. In order that the plates '29 may be readily removed fromthe shafts 8 and 17 a lower section 32 of each side plate is n made separate from the other section and is hinged thereto by a connecting link 33 adjacent to the passage through which the shaft 17 extends, so that by turning the section 32 about thehin e engaged from 0th the shafts'8 and 17. The plates 29 and 30, are joined by a number-of olts which may be shouldered or otherwise formed to space these plates apart sufficientl'y to receive the drums or cylinders 23, 120 and in order that the sections 32 may be. readily held in place to lock the side plates to the shafts 8 and 17 a latch member 'is hinged to that end of each section 32'remote from the hing e 33, and this latch member has upturned wings 36 partially covering the joints between the free ends of the arts 32 "and the main portion of the side p ates 29 and 30 where these parts cometogether.

order to-hold the latch plate 35 remov 33 the side plate may be dis- 115 der 2 and the the eccentric mounting of the shaft 17, after made- Now,'whe n the ress is set in motion the lever 9 is so manipu ated as, to cause the rotation of th segments'l i and 15 and the shaft 17 is the i eby moved toward the cylindrums or cylinders 23 are brought into operative relation to the paper on the cylinder 2's0 as to make imprints thereon in the spaces left by the main forms of the press whereit is desired that the colored imprints should register.

In adjusting the color-printing cylinders or drums 23 'the'printing forms thereon may be brought into approximate register by being secured by screws entering appropriate perforations 28. Then, to bring these imprinting surfaces into exact register the drums 23 may be moved longitudinallyon the shaft 17 'or rotatively thereon, or both, as the case may be, by first loosening the bolts 27, which may be done with a suitable socket wrench,

tl1en, after-the adjustment has been made, tightening these bolts and; so fixing the relationof the drums 23 on the shaft 17. The degree of pressure of the imprinting surfaces of'the-drums 23 upon the paper maybe regulated to a nicety by means of the lever 9 and which the lever 9 is locked in-the adjusted position by means of the dog 12 engaging between two teeth of therack 13. i

' Now, let it be assumed that it is desirable tochan'ge the colors without changing the the inking type forms upon the drums 23: For this purpose the frames carrying the inking mech anismsare unlatched from the shafts 8 and 17-and again placed thereon'at suchoints as 'may be desired, and this without t e necessity ofcleaning the inking devices, although; of course, it will be necessaryto clean the 1grinting forms upon the drums 2 3, thisbeing, 5

small matter requiring but little t me as compared with the cleaning'of rollers and the press' as a whole.

Now, again, let it be supposed that it is de- 1 sirable to print in colorfrom formswider two or more of t ethan one of the drums 23, then on removing the frames carr 'n the inkipg mechanism rums 23 may be brought into contact to form a single composite drum of two, three" or more times, the width of a. single drum.-. This is indicated in Fig. 5 and the ink-carrying frame is inthis instance -made wide enough to accommodate as manyof the-drums 23 aswould beused for-a printing age, while any number of drums less than t e total number necessary to fill the entire inking frame may be used and may be located within the frame in any manner desired. When such composite drum is used then a printing form such as'indicated at 66 and of sufficient width to Of course the main, forms of the printing press are blank at. the points where the colored imprints are to be;

embrace all the drums 23 which are brought into contact, is employed.

In the form shown in Fig. 5 there may be employed a number 10f overlapping scraper platessimilar to those shown in conjunctlon with a single drum 23, so that if desired the amount of. ink fed to the printing form'fifi may be varied as the exigencies of the case may require. It will thus-be. seen that the single drums 23may-be used separately'or united in multi les to rint larger spaces, or single and multiple rums'may be interspersed, or, in fact, any'combination both of width of print and of color, may be used within the capabilities of the 'partic'ular'press and the number of drums 23 adapted thereto. When a sin le inking frame capable of ineluding a num er of drums 231s used the imprints will be made in one color, but-it is possible to make a single inking frame which will include-a number of drums 23"each with individual inking rollers fed from individual 411k reservoirs, so that a number'of colors may be printed simultaneously. In such case, however, when it is desirable to interchange.

. the colors, all the inking rollers as well as the ,type form carrying drums must be cleaned;

The relative number of revolutions of the color cylinder ordrums will vary with different presses, and, consequently, the. driving, mechanism between themain press'andthe shaft 17 must-bevaried accord1nglyi In Fig. 7 there is shown diagrammatically. a suflicient portion of a web press to illustrate" the application of the invention thereto. In this case the drums 23 and the-corresponding impression drum of the web pressimay be of the same size and rotate with the same speed. Reverting to the inking rollers 38, it Will be observed-that they are rovided with end flanges or heads 67 whic ."engage with the periphery of the correspondinggd-rum .23 on each side of the p'rintingplate. These flanges may be made of metaL and being always in contact with the drum'23 will be positively and continuously rotated thereby, v thus relieving the composition bodies of the rollers 38 from the .strain of rotation which would fotherwise be imparted to them and also insuringan even distribution of ink.

Iclaim;- I g I In a Tinting press, a shaft, type form carrying ruins mounted for longitudinal and circumferential adjustment thereon, 'another shaft adiacent to the first-named shaft, 12

interchangeab e inking mechanism, one for each drum and supported by the shafts, ec-

- centric journal bearings for the first-named shaft, and means carried by the. second shaft for rotating said bearings to shift thefirstnamed shaft toward or from the secondnamed shaft,

q 2. A printing ress attachment, comprising a shaft capa le of rotat ve movement,

type form carrying drums mounted thereon 13o,

- hinge connection to an appropriately located bolt 34. The side plates 29 and .30 extend beyond the peripheries of the drums or cylinders 23 and there support a series-of inking.

rollers composed of composition rollers I 38, having their journals mounted in slots 39 in the side plates, which slots slant'in a direction to cause the inking rollers to gravitate to-' ward the surface of the drums 23, and these' inking rollers are engaged by a solid roller 40 also having its journals mounted in slanting slots 39 in the side plates, and this last-named roller 40 is engaged by a composition transfer roller 41 having its journals extending through slots 42 in the side plates and, in turn, receiving ink carried by another roller 43 journaled in the side plates and constantly dipping in an ink reservoir or pan 44, open on the upper edge and having. supports on two appropriately located s'paeing bolts 34.

For the purpose of transferring ink from the roller 43 to the roller 40 there is pivoted to each side plate 29 on its outer face, by means of a pivot screw 45, an angle 1ever46 having a short arm 47 carrying a roller 48 in the path of a cam 49 fast on the shaft 17 adjacent to the respective side" late 29. The

end of the longer arm of the ever 46 is fast.

to the journal 50 of the transfer roller 41. The cam 49 is so shaped that through the greater portion of its rotation its periphery will engage the roller 48 in such manner as to maintain the transfer rolleri41 in engage.-

- ment With the solid roller 40.- During a shorter period, in the rotation of the cam 49 the r,oller 48 is opposite. a depressed portion of the cam, and thus the roller 41wil gravi- Itate to make contact with the ink feed roller 43 to receive a'charge of ink which, when the longer portion of the cam 49 comes in contact with the roller 48 and so elevates the roller 41 into contact with the roller 40, is transferred the last-named roller and from thence is or cylinder 23.

distributed by the inking rollers 38 to the iniprinting surface on the corresponding drum of the roller 43 extends The journal through the side plate 29 and there carries a ratchet Wheel 51, while pivotally secured to the end of the long arm of the lever 46, say

- upon the journal 50 oft ie roller 41, is a pawl 52 havin a teeth of t e ratchet wheei:51 and held in operative relation thereto by the weight of the pawl.

awl 52 is-fixed'by. a nut 54 on one of the liolts 34, while apivoted latch arm 55, engaging over the. nut, serves to prevent the pawl from such lateral movement as would disengage it from the teeth of the ratchet 51. The relation of the pawl 52 and ratchet 51 is suchthat when the transfer roller 41 is moved away from the roller :43 and into engagement witllthe roller 40 the t0oth'53 will engage a bear with sufficient. press tooth 53ar ianged' to engage the The lower limit of movement of the In each reservoir 44 is placed a tooth on the ratchet wheel 51 and so cause a correspondin partial rotation of the roller 43, thus bringin the freshly inked sui'face into the path of t e roller 41 when it is again returned into contact with the roller 43, the tooth 53 under these conditions riding'idly over the teeth of the ratehet disk 51.- this means, every time the shaft 17 and the, drums 23 *carried thereby make one-com piste-rotation, ink is transferred from theroller 43 to the roller 40 and from thence distributed to the printing sur aces on the drums 23. v r -In order that the ink-in rollers 38 may e upon. the printing surfaces totr'ansfer' in thereto, there are 1 provided one or more springs 56 fast .upon

one of the bolts 34' at oneend .andenga mg"; i a pin 57 projecting from the'correspondin plate 29 or 30 and at the other endengaging the journalsof these rollers 38in'su'ch manner as to force them into elastic contact *1 theprintin surfaces; Since. the roller ".40 may be 'a so id Inetalroller its wei suflicient to keep it in contact wit "the roll-' ers 38. To revent too much'inkfrorn being carried-by tfieroller 43 to the roller 41' there are provided two spaced scrapers "58 pivoted .uponone pfthe bolts-34 and having I 1 their ends 59 downturned so as to engage s the periphery of the roller 43 near the en thereof, whileranother plate 60, likewisepivoted upon the same bolt 34 and havin a ,downturned end 61 to bear 'upon the ro ler 43, is Wide enough to extend over the space between the separated scraper plates 58 and to overlap their contiguous edges. Extending between the two side plates-29 and 30 is I a strap 62 provided with tapped perforations 63 for the reception of a thumb-screw 64, so that the thumb-screw may' be brought to bear upon either the centralelastic scraper plate 60 or either of the end scraper plates 5-8 and thus increase or decrease the amount.

of ink permitted to reach the roller 41 as may no be desired, so that the amount of ink which ultimately reaches the imprinting surfaces on the drums or cylinders 23- may beregulated to anicety.

Let it be assumed that the present invention is applied to a press for printing newspapers, and that certain advertisers, wishing to attract attention to their advertisements, desire that the same either in whole or in part shall be printed in colors. Ifthecolored imprints are to occur in several columns the drums or cylinders 23 with their inking mechanismsa drum or cylinder and its ink ing mechanism constituting a color-printing unitare all adjusted alon the shaft 17 to 12 '5 register with the space in w ich the imprint is to occur. To facilitate this adjustment the shaft 8 maybe graduated, as-indicated at 65.

supply of the colored .ink to be used in connection with the ht. will be for longitudinal and circumferential 'adjustment, another shaft adjacent to the first shaft, rack se ments upon the second 'ring rol shaft, other rac segments upon the first shaft in mesh with the first-named rack segments, andeccentric bearings for the firstnamed shaft formed in the second-named rack segments whereby the first-named sh'aft may. be adjusted toward named'shaft.

3. In a printing press, an attachment therefor comprisin a shaft carrying printing drums and movab e to and from the surface to be printed, and removable and inter-- changeable inking mechanisms also mounted on said shaft and participating in the move ment of the latter to and from the surface to be printed. .i

4. In a printing press, a color printing attachment therefor comprising a drum or cylinder for carrying a printing form, saiddrum or cylinder having an unbroken'cylindrical periphery provided with series of equally spaced means extending entirely around the periphery for the attachment thereto of the printing or type form, and also provided with a split hub'and clamping means therefor whereby the drum may be secured to the shaft and may be adjusted longitudinally and circumferentially -With relation to the shaft.

5. An attachment'for printin presses consisting of a rotatable drum a apted ,to receive type or rinting forms and to be secured upon a s ing an ink reservoir and ink rollers for transferring ink from the reservoir to the type form on the drum, said in kframe having two members one carrying'theieservoir and ink rollers, and the other being hinged to the first-named member and. adapted to embrace the shaft carrying the rotatable drum, and a latchfor coupling the two members of the frame together,

6. An attachment for printing presses comprising a shaft, a number of drums adjustable ongitudinally of said shaft, and a number of "ink frames, each carrying an ink reservoir and ink rollers for transferring ink from the reservoir to the respective drums, each of said ink frames being attached to the shaft carrying the. drums and interchangeable one with the other.

' 7. In a printing press, a type-form carryor from the second-- aft, and an ink frame carrying drum, a shaft for supporting the same, an in ring frame-composed of two members one carrying an ink reservoir and ink-transferers between said reservoir and drum and the other member being hinged to the first-named member to embrace the shaft to removably lock the inking'frame to the shaft, and a latch for connectin the two members of the inking frame toget er. 8, In a printing press shaft, type-form carrying drums mounted thereon, removable interchangeable inking mechanisms carried by said shaft, and means on the shaft,'and -coacting means coupled to the inking mechanism for feeding ink from the reservoir to the respective drum when the shaft'is rotated.

9. In a printing press, a rotatable shaft,

type-form carrying drums mounted thereon and provided with means for adjusting them both longitudinally and circumferentially with relation to said shaft, said adjusting means being interior to each drum within the length thereof so thatthedrums may be brought into end engagement for united action or be separated for individual action, and inking means for the drums carried by the shaft.

10. In a printing press, a rotatable shaft movable to and from the surface to be imprinted, drums mounted thereon and adjustable longitudinally and circumferr tially with relation to said shaft and adapte o be brought into end engagement for un. action or tobe separated for individual action, and inking means for the drums carried by the shaft and participating in its movement toward or from the surface to be printed.

11. In a Linting press, a number of printing units, a I mounted for simultaneous operation upon a single shaft, each printing unit comprising a rotatable drum ada ted to receive type or printing forms, an mechanism mounted upon the-shaftcarrying the drums, each inking mechanism being removable as a whole and interchangeable with the inking mechanisms of any one of the other drums. a

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto afiixed my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

ALLEN P. HARLAND. Witnesses:

' I. E. SIMPsoN,

. JAs. M. WALKER.

an inking 

